country roads
by Xmarksthespot
Summary: Dean was driving the impala down the country roads when he realized he was in love with Cas.


**Title**: country roads  
**By**: Xmarksthespot  
**Disclaimer**: so many ships would have sailed by now...if only.

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It wasn't some big shebang that blew up in his face, and it wasn't Sam pushing him to admit his feelings like some sissy (they both knew whose job that was). It wasn't Kevin subtly (or not so subtly—the kid's lacking patience with the all the shit he has to put up with nowadays) hinting that he didn't give a damn what Dean decided to do so long as it didn't tire them out any more than they already were, and it wasn't Charlie and her _OTP_'s. And it damn well wasn't all the awkward moments he and Cas had shared in the past five or so years.

It happened when Dean was driving the impala down the country roads. It was sunny with some variable clouds; it was a normal day without Mother Nature screwing up the weather forecast. He had on his music and his leather jacket. The scent of dinner, which he and Sam had picked up after their recent hunt, was wafting from the back seat. Sam was snoring lightly one seat over.

All Dean was thinking about at the time was getting back to the bunker so he could enjoy the feast with the others—Kevin, Charlie, _Cas_. And that's when it happened.

Dean was driving the impala down the country roads when he realized he was in love with Cas.

_Cas _as in the former angel that went to Hell and Purgatory and back, peanut butter and jelly (not jam) sandwich lover, and current human-cum-hunter in-training.

His eyes got a little wider and his impeccable driving skills vanished long enough for him to drive over a pothole, waking Sam up in the process.

"Dean?"

But his eyes kept staring straight ahead of him, towards the end of the roads and he could calculate exactly how much time it would take him before he reached their home base – how much time it would take before he saw Cas again.

Cas' image remained in his thoughts, even as Sam asked for his attention. He thought about every moment he and the former angel shared, good and bad. How Cas would always have Dean's back as Dean would have his, even when they weren't in each other's presence. How Cas seemed to be the one who cheered him up when the others couldn't, even though he didn't try half the time. How Dean couldn't picture a life without Cas.

On an instant, Dean formed a large grin that, from the sound of urgency in Sam's voice, downright freaked out his brother.

"Dean?!"

Finally, Dean fell out of his gaze (Cas' voice still ever-present in his mind).

"Yeah, Sammy?"

In the future, months or years from that day, the others would ask him how much he freaked out and how long denial rang in his ears before he jumped the gun. Dean would be tempted to shove all of Chuck's books (electronic copy or not, he'd find a way) down Charlie's throat when she convincingly pointed out every sappy (manly, Dean reminded her) moment he ever shared with his angel.

Then when he would realize his fanclub had been getting together behind his back to discuss about his life, he would group them all together into one big family meeting to discuss the truth. Because contrary to what they would come to believe, Dean hadn't been thinking about anything significant prior to that moment; nothing led up to that thought or that sudden jolt of rapid heartbeats in his chest. Nothing aggravated him to that conclusion.

And when Cas, with a tilt of his head and a familiar look of curiousness in his eyes, would question Dean about how much the hunter struggled to come to terms with his feelings, Dean would grin, a fading chuckle rumbling down his throat, and would tell them all that once he realized how he felt about Cas while driving the impala down the country roads, Sam had asked him if he was okay. He only said two words:

"Never better."

And, if only to get home a little sooner, Dean pushed on the gas pedal a bit harder.

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**Note**: _So_, this is technically my first SPN fic _and_ my first slash fic, which is why it's so short cause I'm still experimenting, but I've been shipping these two to a point where it's no longer even considered healthy, so I figured: how different could it be from writing straight couples? And then I discovered _Dean Winchester_ who would most likely dig himself to the other side of the world in a pit of denial if anything were to happen. Then I said "screw it." Hope you guys enjoyed this :)


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